General Hastings Lionel Ismay, the first Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), is reported to have once stated the goal of the organization was to “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.” If Ismay did indeed make this remark, it carries with it a heavy sense of irony: By the time NATO launched its first military operations, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 meant that the “Russians” were no longer a threat.
Beginning in 1992, NATO began a series of operations in an area centered around the former Republic of Yugoslavia that is collectively referred to as the Balkans, with much of the efforts concentrated in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, and Kosovo. Operations included naval blockades, enforcement of no-fly zones, aerial bombing campaigns, and the insertion of ground troops to serve as peacekeepers.
Until the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, none of these operations were based upon the activation of Article 5 of the original NATO treaty, which states that an attack on any member nation is considered an attack on all of them. As such, they are all referred to as “Non-Article 5” operations, and NATO had established medals designed to recognize participation in them.
In 2003, the political arm of NATO, the North Atlantic Council, approved a medal to be awarded to qualifying personnel who had participated in any of the Non-Article 5 operations, replacing the various medals that had previously been issued for each of the operations. The new design went into effect January 1, 2003.